Drohobych. Churches Worth Visiting

Getting acquainted with the history and notable sights of Drohobych, the administrative and cultural centre of Lviv region, tourists will find it interesting to look over the sacred architecture, the ancient churches and the new churches of various denominations.

 

Drohobych, Lviv region. The Monastery of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

The Monastery of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was founded in 1774 with the permission of Empress Maria Theresa. In 1828 a stone church, which has survived to our day, replaced the wooden one that had burned down.

 

Drohobych. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul

With the establishment of Soviet power in 1939, an NKVD prison was set up next to this place of prayer, where the arrested clergymen perished in torment, and in the monastery yard there was a transit point for sending undesirable townsfolk into exile.

 

In the Soviet period the church housed a students' club.

 

In 1990 the shrine was returned to the faithful. On the monastery grounds is the largest mosaic in the district.

 

3 Stryiska Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'7"N 23°30'45"E

The Church of St Bartholomew is a historical monument of national significance, an example of Baroque and Gothic architecture. The church was founded at the end of the 14th century and served as a defensive structure.

 

Drohobych. The Church of St Bartholomew and the bell tower

After enemy invasions it was partly destroyed and rebuilt in the 16th century. It is the oldest monument in Drohobych.

Drohobych. The bell tower and the monument to Pope John Paul II

12 Danyla Halytskoho Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'7"N 23°30'14"E

The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity was raised in 1690 in the very heart of the town and is the spiritual centre of the Sambir-Drohobych eparchy of the UGCC.

 

Drohobych. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity

At the beginning of the 20th century the church's interiors were complemented by an iconostasis by the talented artist Modest Sosenko.

 

On the facade of the cathedral a memorial plaque is set up to Markiian Shashkevych, an awakener of Galician Ukraine.

 

The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The memorial plaque to Markiian Shashkevych

The building where the eparchy administration is now housed held a school in the 19th century. In 1864-1867 the national poet I. Ya. Franko studied there.

 

The eparchy administration, the former school where I. Ya. Franko studied

A theological seminary has been opened at the cathedral church, where not only our compatriots study but also people from the neighbouring countries.

 

Drohobych. The theological seminary

2 Truskavetska Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'1"N 23°30'20"E

One of the most beautiful wooden churches in Ukraine, the church-museum of St George belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage.

 

Drohobych. The Church of St George and the bell tower

The church was built at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries in the Dolyna area of Ivano-Frankivsk region. The place of worship was exchanged for Drohobych salt and, dismantled, was brought on oxen. In Drohobych a masterpiece of wooden architecture was assembled from oak logs cured in salt solution. Repairs and rebuildings have not altered the original appearance of the church, while the decorative ornament and the refined interior have underlined the uniqueness of the sacred structure.

The Church of St George. UNESCO World Heritage

23 Solonyi Stavok Street.

Coordinates: 49°20'51"N 23°29'57"E

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was the parish church of the Drohobych salt-makers.

Drohobych. The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The shrine has the status of a monument of national significance. The date of its construction is hard to establish, but the place of worship was raised approximately at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century.

 

The church is part of the "Drohobych Land" museum complex, and services are held there once a year, on 27 September.

 

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. An architectural monument

7 Zvarytska Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'0"N 23° 29'48"E

The first mention of the church of the Holy Great Martyr Paraskeva Piatnytsia is documented in the year 1496. In 1815, on the site of its burned-down predecessor, a wooden church was raised by the community without a single iron nail.

 

Drohobych. The Church of St Paraskeva and the bell tower

The church keeps service books, a Gospel and crosses of the 17th-18th centuries. The church is active and has the status of an architectural monument of local significance.

Drohobych. The Church of St Paraskeva. An architectural monument

24 Kotsiubynskoho Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'7"N 23°29'21"E

The Choral Synagogue -- one of the twenty Jewish houses of prayer that existed before the Second World War, was built in 1865.

 

Drohobych. The Choral Synagogue

During the years of the Nazi occupation the fascists turned the synagogue into a stable. In Soviet times the monumental building was occupied by salt warehouses and grocery shops. In 1990 the half-ruined building was handed over to the Jewish community. In 2014 a major renovation began.

 

Drohobych. The synagogue. Restoration. 2016.

6 Pylypa Orlyka Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'12"N 23°30'40"E

In the godless times, churches of various denominations were closed and destroyed. In the years of Ukraine's Independence new churches have been built in Drohobych. The Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, with a lower church of St Andrew the First-Called, was consecrated in 1995.

Drohobych. The Church of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God

3 Pylypa Orlyka Street.

Coordinates: 49°21'17"N 23° 30'40"E